TY - JOUR
AU - Hoynes,Hilary W.
AU - Schanzenbach,Diane Whitmore
AU - Almond,Douglas
TI - Long Run Impacts of Childhood Access to the Safety Net
JF - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL - No. 18535
PY - 2012
Y2 - November 2012
DO - 10.3386/w18535
UR - http://www.nber.org/papers/w18535
L1 - http://www.nber.org/papers/w18535.pdf
N1 - Author contact info:
Hilary W. Hoynes
Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy
University of California, Berkeley
2607 Hearst Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94720-7320
Tel: (510) 642-1166
E-Mail: hoynes@berkeley.edu
Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach
School of Education and Social Policy
Northwestern University
Annenberg Hall, Room 205
2120 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
Tel: 847/491-3884
E-Mail: dws@northwestern.edu
Douglas Almond
Department of Economics
Columbia University
International Affairs Building, MC 3308
420 West 118th Street
New York, NY 10027
Tel: 212/854-7248
Fax: 212/854-3239
E-Mail: da2152@columbia.edu
AB - A growing economics literature establishes a causal link between in utero shocks and health and human capital in adulthood. Most studies rely on extreme negative shocks such as famine and pandemics. We are the first to examine the impact of a positive and policy-driven change in economic resources available in utero and during childhood. In particular, we focus on the introduction of a key element of the U.S. safety net, the Food Stamp Program, which was rolled out across counties in the U.S. between 1961 and 1975. We use the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to assemble unique data linking family background and county of residence in early childhood to adult health and economic outcomes. The identification comes from variation across counties and over birth cohorts in exposure to the food stamp program. Our findings indicate that the food stamp program has effects decades after initial exposure. Specifically, access to food stamps in childhood leads to a significant reduction in the incidence of "metabolic syndrome" (obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes) and, for women, an increase in economic self-sufficiency. Overall, our results suggest substantial internal and external benefits of the safety net that have not previously been quantified.
ER -